My Weekend at Auntie Anne's, Part 2

My Weekend at Auntie Anne's  (Part 2)


	My hand was shaking and my heart was pounding as I reached for the
offered cigarette, but the smile on my face more than made up for my
nervousness.  

"Have you ever tried a cigarette before?"  

"No, not a lit one."  

"Never even tried a puff of your mom's?"  

"No.  I wanted to, but I was afraid of getting caught.  I really have been
thinking about it a lot though."  

"Do you know how to light it, or should I light it for you this time?"  

"I'd like to try lighting it myself, if that's OK?"  

"Have you ever used a lighter before?"  

"Uh huh.  Mommy let me light her cigarette for her a couple of times."

	As I placed the cigarette in my overly inverted lips, I tried to work
the lighter without success.  Reaching over, Auntie Anne took the lighter from
my shaking hands, then gently removed the long cigarette from my lips.  

"Here," she said.  "Let me show you the proper way to do this.  Now, just
open your lips a little bit and let the filter rest gently between your lips."
"You don't have to curl your lips in over your teeth to hold the cigarette in
place".  "Practice it a few times and let me see how you do, OK.  Since this
is your very first time, I'm going to teach you the proper way to hold a
cigarette and light it and smoke it like a lady.  First, a lady always holds
a cigarette in her first two fingers like this," as she placed the cigarette
between the first and second joint of my first two fingers of my right hand.
"Now, how does that feel?  A little awkward maybe?"  

"Oh no, I like it.  It looks nice."  

"Now part your lips a little and put the cigarette between them, and let go
with your fingers.  Just a little pressure with your lips will hold it
there, not like the vise grip you just displayed with your lips curled back in
over your teeth.  That will never do for a lady.  Now after your cigarette
is lit and you've taken a few puffs, you will have to trim the ash from the
end to keep from making a mess everywhere.  So, I want you to practice
putting the cigarette up to your lips and spread your fingers apart like this,
take a pretend puff, put your fingers back on the cigarette and then remove
it.  Here, watch me.  I'll show you what I mean."  

It looked so easy as Auntie Anne demonstrated the technique, but in my
nervousness, I had a little trouble at first.  It wasn't long though before I
got the hang of it, and she then proceeded to show me how to hold the
cigarette so I could trim the ash by holding it between my thumb and middle
finger while tapping it against the ashtray with my index finger.  Talk about
manual dexterity.  I had a difficult time mastering this maneuver and learning
how to exert just the right amount of pressure on the cigarette.

	Being so nervous and excited, it seemed like it was taking forever
before I could try my cigarette, but in reality it only took a few minutes,
but to a child, a few minutes can seem like hours, especially when you were
excited as I was.

	Apparently satisfied that I at least had the basics down, Auntie Anne
said, "It looks like you have all the techniques down pretty good now, so are
you ready to try it for real?"  

"Uh huh."  

"OK, put the cigarette in your lips like I showed you and when I put the flame
to the end of the cigarette, just suck on it very gently.  When you taste
some smoke in your mouth, take the cigarette away and just blow it out real
easy.  Ready?  Here goes."

	When Auntie Anne gave me that first cigarette and lit me up for the
first time, I can't describe the love I had for her at that moment.  I loved
her more than anyone else in the world and to this day I still have that
special love for her.

	As Auntie Anne flicked her lighter and brought the flame up to the tip
of my cigarette, I did just as she told me.  But I really didn't expect the
smoke to taste or feel like it did.  Although I didn't inhale at that point,
the smoke still tasted pretty bad to me.  Grandma, mom and Auntie Anne made it
look so wonderful and they really seemed to enjoy it so much, but at that
moment, I couldn't understand how they could like it as much as they obviously
did.

"Well, what do you think?  How do you like it, so far?"  

"It doesn't taste as good as I thought it would."  

"That's pretty much what everyone thinks the first time, Honey, but the more
you do it, the better it will taste.  Your cigarette will start to taste
better with each puff, you'll see."  


With those encouraging words, I placed the cigarette in my lips and took
another puff.  Contrary to what Auntie Anne just told me, the smoke still
tasted pretty bad but I was determined I was going to do this.  I was so eager
to make the most of my first smoking experience that I guess I was a little
too anxious because I continued to take three or four more puffs in rapid
succession.  I say puffs because all I did was puff on the cigarette and blow
out the smoke.  Auntie Anne saw this and said to me, 

"Slow down Honey.  You don't have to smoke it all at once.  Just take a
puff every once in a while.  Let the cigarette rest for a few seconds to
cool down between puffs.  Put it down in the ashtray for a bit like I showed
you, then when you feel like you'd like to take another puff, just pick it up,
take a puff and put it back in the ashtray."  

I seemed to be doing fairly well just holding the cigarette, but when I
started using the ashtray the smoke began to go up my nose and get in my eyes,
making me cough and my eyes water.  When I reached down to get my cigarette, I
also sort of leaned into it to take my puff and that just seemed to make
things worse.  Auntie Anne finally told me that if I sat up straight and
brought the cigarette all the way up to my lips rather than bending down into
it, it would cure that problem.  I did just like she said and it worked, but
moving the ashtray from the floor to the coffee table solved the problem.  I
continued to smoke the rest of my cigarette like she told me and when it was
almost finished, Auntie Anne showed me how to put it out by demonstrating.  

"Now watch how I put my cigarette out and then you do just like it, OK?"  

"OK, Auntie Anne", I said, as I proceeded to hold it by the filter and gently
poke it down in the ashtray, being careful to put out every last bit of hot
ash.  

"That was perfect young lady.  You did that just like a pro."  

Boy, at that moment I felt so happy and grown up that you couldn't have pried
the smile off my face.  I can't remember another time in my life when I've
ever been happier.  No present I ever received or vacation I took ever made me
any happier than my first smoking experience.  I don't know why that was
exactly.  Maybe it was because I was allowed to do a grown up thing at such a
young age, I don't know.  I just remember it being the best moment of my life.

We continued with our card game and it wasn't long before Auntie Anne reached
for another cigarette.  Hoping she would let me have another one, I wasn't
disappointed as she offered one to me before I had a chance to ask.  

"Would you like to have another cigarette, Honey?"  (Boy, would I!)  

"Oh yes, Auntie Anne, I really want to do it again."  

With that, she proceeded to light me up a second time.  


"Auntie Anne, when can I breathe in the smoke like you do, I asked?"  

"You mean inhale the smoke?"  

"Yeah, inhale it just like you do."  

"Well Ash, I don't think you're quite ready for that yet.  Just keep puffing
on them today while you get used to the taste.  Maybe tomorrow we can try
inhaling."  

The word "Tomorrow" really got my attention.  That meant another whole day of
smoking.  I smoked that cigarette and really felt so grown up.  The taste
wasn't so bad the second time around either.  In fact, I was beginning to like
it...a lot.  Not having inhaled any of the smoke, I did not feel any of the
beginner's effects of smoking for the first time, no lightheadedness or
dizziness.

About thirty minutes later, I got up the nerve to ask Auntie Anne for another
cigarette.  

"Are you sure you want another one, Hon?  You're not feeling dizzy or
anything?"  

"Oh no, Auntie Anne, this is fun and I want to do it again."  

"Alright Hon, but this will be the last one for this afternoon.  I don't
want you to overdo it."  

I smoked this one just like before and when I finished this one it was almost
time for dinner.

I don't really remember much about the card game because I was concentrating
so hard on smoking cigarettes.  After we finished with our card game we
watched TV for a little while and when Auntie Anne lit another cigarette for
herself, I asked her if I could have just one more, but she stuck to her
previous statement and didn't let me have any more then.  

"I'll let you have a few more after dinner, OK?"

Although I was disappointed at the moment, I didn't make a fuss because of "a
few more" and "tomorrow".  I was so excited with the prospect of smoking a few
more cigarettes after dinner I can't remember what we had for dinner that
night.

After dinner Auntie Anne and I watched TV for a while longer and each time she
got a cigarette for herself she would pass her pouch and lighter to me and
smile.  I was really in heaven that day.  I felt so grown up handling the
cigarette pouch, lighting my own cigarettes and smoking with my Auntie Anne.
Things just couldn't have gotten any better.

After finishing my third cigarette of the evening, Auntie Anne said it was
time for bed and for me to go upstairs and take a bath, brush my teeth and get
ready for bed.  Then she would be up to tuck me in.  I did take my bath but I
didn't brush my teeth because I wanted to keep the taste of the smoke in my
mouth so I would be ready for "tomorrow". 

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